Page 91 of Stuck with my Mechanic Daddies

His mouth quirked. “That bad?”

I exhaled hard, shaking my head. “You don’t wanna know.”

He huffed a quiet laugh but didn’t press. Instead, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and glanced into the trees, his expression shifting.

“You keeping an eye on what's happening around town?” he asked, his tone casual, but I wasn’t stupid. There was weight behind his words.

My jaw tightened. “If you're talking about Hank Lawson, then yeah, I’ve been watching.”

Nate’s gaze swung back to me, sharp. “He's making moves. Trying to buy up businesses, land—anything he can get his hands on. Weird, right? Is he after you?”

I swore under my breath. “That son of a bitch has been after me for far too long.”

“You holding firm?”

My fists clenched at my sides. “He can make all the offers he wants. I’m not selling.”

Nate studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Good. Medford is great as is. We don’t need some asshole gentrifying it.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“It’s starting to make a lot of people nervous,” Nate murmured. “I don’t like the way this might head.”

“I can handle Lawson,” I assured him. “He's not getting his hands on the auto shop and my grandfather’s legacy, no matter what he tries.”

Nate’s lips pressed into a firm line. “Maybe. But what abouther?”

I didn’t have to ask who he meant.

Aurora.

“I know he's certain he'll get Page Turners, for a start. Do you know anything about that?”

What could I say?

Aurora wasn’t from here. She didn’t have any more family ties.

She could cave.

“I don’t know, but I hope he doesn’t get his hands on anything.”

“Me too,” Nate agreed. “I don’t like the idea of that asshole having any more control. I know his family is from Medford, but he hasn't been here for years, has he? He doesn’t have the same care about the town that the rest of us do.”

I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my damp hair. “No, he doesn’t. He just sees an opportunity, a way to flip this place into something unrecognizable and make a fortune off it.”

Nate nodded grimly. “Right. It’s almost like he's trying to fulfill some personal goal or vendetta. It’s weird.”

My chest tightened. “What can we do about it?”

Nate offered me a one-shouldered shrug. “I guess we stay strong, right? Stick together. Maybe we need a town meeting or something? Talk it out with everyone.”

“You know Hank will use a town meeting to his advantage.”

Nate nodded grimly. “We need to figure something out, right? I know my sister and all the guys at the firehouse will be on our side. Maybe everyone in the bowling league as well.”

“But we still have a lot of work to do.”

All of a sudden, this didn’t feel like such a personal battle anymore. This was something that all of us needed to take on.

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